Snaf are an interesting group of individuals that live in various areas in North America. They often unite to attend massive events called strecnoc. This is where they come to worship their idols. There are snaf of all ages that gather around a platform where they listen to the screetching of their idols. Everyone chants the incantations lead by the icon. Inbetween the chants some scream, while others pass out from shock. At some of these strecnoc events the snaf get the lucky chance of being apart of the human bed built for these idols. They crowd together with their hands up for the highly praised icons to lay on. The icon is then tossed around above the crowd and then replaced to their elevated station. Others get the chance after these strecnoc to have these idols mark them or their possesions with ink. When it is all over most walk away with garments that mark that they had wittnessed the chanting of the highly acclaimed icon. These people believe that these strenoc events will temporarily cure them of boredom and add excitement to their lives.
When viewing entertainment in America as an outsider, events like concerts with cheering fans may seem a little odd. In his article Body Ritual's among the Nacirema, Horce Miner explored American attitudes about the body from an outsider's perspective. Using this same approach with the example of a rock concert, entertainment can be seen as something that is regularly sought and praised in the American culture. This leads one to assume that boredom is something that Americans do not easily adjust to. If there is nothing to do or worry about, things are created to fill this void as seen with sports, music, movies, theater, and televsion shows. About 99% of American households have a least one televsion according to the A.C. Nieslen Co. This quantitative data shows how entertainment is culturally embraced. This observation and accertion is supported with both quatitative and empirical information which is important in using the scientific method on social commentary. Without even a conducted experiment, one can see how a crowd reacts when their favorite sports team has won a game or their favorite actor is seen emdorsing a certain brand. There is lots of yelling and everyone thinks they must own that product. In the example above, an outsider observing a concert would see how the entertainer is highly praised by the crowd, and would assume that the singer is some diety being worshipped. This seems like an over-the-top analysis of how amped up the enterainment industry is in the average American home, but magazines like Star and the Inquire dedicate their existance to bringing Americans every detail about their entertainers and entertainment. One remarkable evidence of how the American society as a whole "bows down" to their cure for boredom is the amount of money they spend to obtain this cure. Just this weekend the film Avatar grossed $34,944,081 (www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend.chart).
Not only do the "snaf" spend lots of money to entertain themselves, but their entertainers are also paid well. The average actor gets paid around $50,000 which is $10,000 more the the average salary of an elementary school teacher (http://www.payscale.com/). This shows what Americans are more enthusiast about in comparison to eduction, which other cultures embrace more severely. Some Asian countries pay their educators $20,000 more than American, showing that they culturally embrace education more than average Americans. As an outsider looking in, one might think that entertainment is the god of America. In less dramatic terms, it would be seen as something that is higly valued in the American culture, which would lead one to assert that boredom is something that most Americans find intolerable or unacceptable.
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